Which Format Do You Record In? And Why?, .wav, .aif, .sd2 ??? Options

[editbrain]

Which audio format are you recording you music to? and why?

[Francois Déchery]

in OS9 i used to record in sd2f, because i had no other choice in PT+samplecell. Now (in OSX) i use Aiff because it is compatible with most applications (samplers, synth, etc...)

[editbrain]

i am curious if aif is going to be the thing of the past. now with logic 7 having a choice for wav.

[dixiechicken]

Whatever format my apps work with.
Convert them later if I have to.

Cheers: Dixiechicken

[kaboombahchuck]

I have always used AIFF.

[editbrain]

so are there any advantages to using sd2 over aif? or wav over aif?
i was reading that logic 7 was having some problems with importing from a cd to aif. something about the file would only be noise. this is on the apple KB.

[dixiechicken]

You must make a separation between regular audio-files like
*:aif or *.wav or *.mp3.

and audio-files/soundbites from an sequenser /DAW such as DP-4 or Logic
(whatever format Logic uses).

The soundbites from (sound designer format ?) DP-4 also contains meta data such as
edits performed or tempo information and perhaps other region-info as well.

These kind of aufio-files are not directly compatible/comparable with aif and wav files as an example.

Most DAW:s and serveral other programs can export and comvert between various formats though.

Cheers: Dixiechicken

[Francois Déchery]

Not having to convert between formats when you want to use your samples in any application is really confortable and creative... On Mac, AIFF is nowadays defacto the best compatible format. SOme apps read wavs, others (rarest on OSX) read sd2, but all read AIFF.
Also the advantage of AIFF versus SD2 is that both formats can store regions definitions inside the audio file, but only AIFF can store the base note of your sample, which is really convenient when you import a muilti sample instrument on a virtual sampler which smartly recognize theses base note informations encoded inside the AIFF files to automatically spread your samples on the keyboard map.

AIFF is the right choice if you want to avoid spending time to convert samples before being able to use them, and to offer the most features.
IMHO, the less time you spend on technic (converting, importing...) , the more time you can spend to be creative, which is the essence of music.

Of course, if you are working on a multiplatofrm environnement , often switching between macs and PCs, WAV would be the best choice.

[damann]

can i just add that logic 7 supports the new apple loops format
if you're saving an audio file as a "loop" or "break"
this is the best way to save your file!
apple loops takes the rex file format into the future by incorporating meta-data that allows you to load your "loop" into logic or garage band as a file that automatically makes the loop conform to the tempo of your composition without having to slice the loop
this is worth bearing in mind...

[damann]

also,
sd11, nowadays, is almost exclusively a pro-tools format, in as much as it's the only format that treats stereo files as dual mono/split stereo!
so, if you're using pro-tools hardware, this is the format for you, otherwise aiff (audio interchangeable file format) is the most universal

presuming that you use a mac...

This post has been edited by damann: Wed 17 Nov 2004, 00:32